The Delta Species
by LagomorphKing
Summary: We are the Delta Species. We are shunned, put down and abandoned because people think we're worthless abominations, but we're not. This is the story of Andy, a suicidal Psychic Charmander, Skyler, a Poison Pikachu, and a hidden village of Delta Species. Together, they will battle and accomplish feats that no other Pokémon thought possible, and eventually make their mark as Pokémon.
1. Chapter 1

Finally, it's finished. The first chapter of The Delta Species! :D

Enjoy :3

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TDS: Chapter One

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This day was just another regular summer afternoon in Viridian forest, to local humans and wild Pokèmon alike. The sun was beating down at an abnormal power, but this was to be expected in the middle of August. The forest Pokèmon scurried about in their normal, everyday routines, finding food and water and basic necessities for survival.

But, hidden in this seemingly normal, Pokèmon infested forest, in an area rarely discovered or seen by any living thing other than it's inhabitants, lives a small village of Pokèmon. This village isn't all too normal though, as the Pokèmon that inhabit the living spaces of it know all too well. This is a village of Delta Species.

Delta Species are an extremely rare type of Pokèmon who are born with not only their original type(s), but also are able to master one other specific type and move set. For example, a Pikachu might just be an electric type, but, born a Delta Species Pokèmon, it might also be a fire type, and are able to use fire type moves. Cool, huh? Well...not so much.

Most Delta Species are picked on and discriminated on by other Pokèmon, as sad as it is to say. They're teased and picked on by normal Pokèmon, who are apparently, "not freaks". That, is the sole reason why this village exists - to show other Pokèmon that we're not freaks, and we can kick ass just as well, or even better than you can. This is more a rehab for Bullied Pokèmon than anything, but it helps, and that's what it's here to do.

My name is Antonio, but everybody, for as long as I can remember have just called me Andy. I am a Pokèmon species known as a Charmander, and I am one of these fabled specialty Pokèmon. This is the story of my life changing adventures as part of the Delta Species village.

I was born in January of '99, on my father's birthday. My father was a big, strong Charizard whom I've admired my whole life. My mother, a sweet and caring Charmeleon, raised me for most of my life, as when I was 5, as my father was killed in a freak accident with a very fast transport truck. Apparently, he never saw it coming.

I ran away from my home in Johto at the age of 10, after being tired of the torment and discrimination against me and my psychic type abilities. I ran away with my mother's consent, fully understanding what it was like for me to be in that situation, living the life I was living. She decided I was of age, and let me go. I haven't seen her since, and I often wonder how she's doing. I traveled, eventually across regions, into Kanto and lived in Viridian forest by myself for 3 years. Just a year ago, though, I found the village by chance, and decided to remain there for however long it felt necessary to stay. The Pokèmon I had met there were really nice, and accepted me into their village without a second thought. I, of course stayed, not knowing my actions would change the course of action my life was taking drastically.

The first month I had stayed at the village were really awkward, but I eased into the community not too long after. They all accepted me for who I was, and that was a big change for me. I hadn't been told one nice thing about myself, except from my parents, since I was born. They all believe I have potential, which is great considering I didn't believe it until now. A lot of them are actually jealous of my psychic abilities, because I can do things with telekinesis, like float and move items. I don't have to get up most of the time for the things I had to accomplish, which is the main reason for the jealousy. Being a psychic type, though, means my flame is purple instead of red, even the flame on my tail. When I use flamethrower, or flame wheel, or anything like that, the flame is always it's unusual shade of violet.

We all have separate living accommodations - small huts made of straw so tightly weaved that they stop rain like shingles. Because I'm a fire type, I needn't worry about being cold at night, but if it ever gets too cold to bare, I'll go out and find a big rock to place in front of my hut, using telekinesis to move it. For some other members of the village though, this is a problem. We do our best though, and I say we, for the most part, get along fine.

The village comes upon decisions mostly through a controlled democracy, but without a leader. Most important decisions are made through votes amongst the very small amount of Pokèmon living here (About 30-35 total). We don't rely on a leader. Instead, we survive as a team and we all do our jobs without question or, for that matter order, from anybody.

My job, is to to cook food and switch watch duty through a schedule that we've set up already. It seems natural that I do the cooking, considering I'm a fire type. Everybody says my cooking is superb, but I have a hard time believing in my abilities...which brings me to another aspect of my life.

I've been severely depressed for about two years now. All of the village Pokèmon all say I'm an excellent person, and that I'm special despite what I might think. I can't help but believe they're all lying to try to make me feel better, and I'm just useless. Despite the unusual amount of compliments I get, I just can't seem to bring myself of of the hole I've dug. I've nobody who loves me, I've no family. Well...the unconditional love I receive from the village is definitely present, but I have nobody who would ever actually live with me and take care of me. They've all got families of their own to take care of, and they can't be bothered with me. In fact, I've not seen another Charmander since I arrived in Kanto. The village knows I'm depressed, and they try to help. I am very grateful for their efforts, but...it's just not enough, I guess.

As I walk through the small path and into the brush towards my destination, I came across a large, tall wooden door with points carved into the wood to prevent things from climbing over. This was the entrance to the village, and as soon as I came into view of the gate, a voice shouted over the wall.

"Who goes there!?" The voice yells ferociously.

I sighed. "Alf, It's me. Andy."

"What's the password!?"

"What password? We never discussed a password!" I yelled back, preparing to throw the damn thing across the forest with my psychic powers.

"Agh...fine, come on in." The voice finally agreed.

The gates then spread open, revealing a full set of huts circled around one big fire pit. A little farther down the village square sat a hut that was at least 6 times the size of the other, more normal huts. This was the hall in where we would make all of our important decisions, and sometimes there were celebrations there, like Christmas and Halloween. There wasn't much else, save the trail that lead down to the river and the back trail that lead to some makeshift outhouses. Once a month, at the hall, all of the males would gather around and we'd pick sticks to see who had to clean the outhouses that month. I had already done it twice, and let me tell you, that is not something you ever want to experience.

Yep, this is home.

My house was on the right side of the circle, if you were looking at it from the gate. It was right smack dab in the middle of several other huts. I walked past Alf, a not-so-bright Squirtle who was a ghost type Delta. That's right, he had double type advantage over me. Fun. He threw me a content look.

"Welcome home, Andy. How was training?"

I had been going out every so often when I wanted to train my psychic type abilities, fire being my main type and therefore the most powerful of the two. Having psychic abilities does come in handy, and I wanted to make sure I'm still in tune with those abilities.

"Eh, pretty well I guess. See you around." I said as I waved him off and walked back into the village, hearing the heavy wooden doors slam against one another as they closed.

"Andy?"

I turned around again and sighed. "Yes, Alf?"

"Are you alright? You don't seem so positive today." Alf inquired with a questionable expression.

"Oh, yea. Just tired, is all. I'm going to go and start dinner."

"Okay, whatever you say. Have a good day." He replied, turning again to face the outside and keep watch. I sighed and walked to the clearing where we do the cooking.

Upon exiting the brush and entering the forest clearing, I was greeted by a face of which belonged to one of my best friends, Skyler. She turned to me as I exited, caught off guard by the sudden noise of rustling leaves and snapping twigs coming from my direction. As soon as she saw me, her eyes glowed and her face radiated with positivity.

"Hey, Antonio! Ready to cook?" She exclaimed with a smile.

Skyler was relatively young at age 12, but she always acts full of enthusiasm and truly has the properties and mindset of that of a fully matured female. Skyler, a Pikachu and a poison type DS, was abandoned at birth and left to survive on her own as a Pichu. Her parents abused her before her abandonment, which is the reason for the scar that ran across her thigh, giving her a limp and leaving her leg mildly crippled. She also had a tuft of hair that grew from her forehead, hanging over her eyes and giving her a reason to occasionally swat it away. Since she was a poison type, the fur that usually went around her back that was brown was a light shade of purple, giving off a feminine charm and really showing her personality through her appearance. We were the best of friends, even from the day we met. We were pretty much inseparable. I loved Skyler in a friendly way, and would do most anything to make sure she stay out of harm's way.

I sighed. "Skyler, how many times have I asked you to call me Andy and not Antonio?"

She smiled again. "I don't see why, Antonio just seems more manly. You sound tough when you hve a name like that."

"Skyler, if you know me well, which you do more than anyone, you would know that I am the bane of male stereotype." I said jokingly, while poking her in the forehead.

She grabbed my hand and bent my arm back around so I'd poke myself in the nose. "Well, Anto-erm-Andy, that's why you're training, isn't it? Has it been working? C'mon, flex that arm of yours!" She yelled like an army Sargent, laughing after and wrapping her hand around my bicep. "Last time we had an arm wrestle, I nearly threw you off of the table!" She laughed again. I put on a smirk and flexed my bicep, her hand still being on it. I watched almost all emotion except for wonder practically melt off of her face.

"Holy shit Andy, what have you been doing, wrestling mountains?" She exclaimed, now squeezing my arm with both hands. I laughed. "Maybe I've gone through a growth spurt."

"I'd say," She replied, taking her hands off my arm. "Now, we gotta start supper. Ready?"

"Ready," I replied. I looked at my target, a small pit with some kindling on it. I started storing energy, and, withing a millisecond, fired a short burst of purple fire. I then used psychic to keep it going while Skyler ran and got the water filled pot. She waddled back, placing the pot on a stand above the pit. She tossed more firewood in, signaling for me to stop using psychic to keep it going.

"That's always really cool..." she said, me helping her stand back up because of her crippled leg.

"What is?" I replied.

"Your purple fire. It always looks so...ah, what's the word?" She put a hand to her chin and looked up. "Uh...oh, extravagant! That's the word!" She exclaimed.

"I don't think it's nearly as cool as being able to shoot PURPLE THUNDERBOLTS!" I said with emphasis on the last part. She put her hands behind her back, looked down and giggled. She was really cute sometimes.

"...You wanna put the stuff in?" She said as she gestured back to the pot of water that was now starting to boil. "Sure." Was my simple reply.

(Time Skip)

Skyler and I walked out of the forest, carrying several big leaves that served as plates for food. Everyone in the village had already gathered and was waiting anxiously for what we had cooked. It was a simple meal today, no real skill needed to cook it. Just some boiled and mashed berries and Pecha berry juice served using some weird containers that some Pokèmon had found earlier in January, atop a mound of snow. The youngest got their food first, the older adults waited for their turns. But, since Skyler and I prepared and served the food, we always get served last, and we get served whatever's left after making everyone else's dish. Sometimes, we'd have to give up our meals simply because there wouldn't be enough to give everyone a plate. Many of the villagers disagreed with this logic, saying things like, "You two took the hours and effort to make it, you should get some!" And sometimes, they would even offer us their food, but we never accepted. We did it for the good of the village, and we were only happy if everyone else was happy.

After serving the food, Skyler and I walked back to where we made the food and scraped what was left from the pot and ate it. There was no juice though, the little ones had drank it all. But, again, we didn't really mind.

After we ate, we headed back to the 'hall' where everyone was finishing their meals. We walked in the door, I let Skyler in first because I'm just such a gentleman, and were greeted by 30 content faces and about 5 children running around and through our feet. Joey, a Raticate fire DS and one of the oldest out of the Pokèmon living here greeted us at the door. He put an arm around me and said, "Mate, you and the lass have done it again. That was a hardy meal, if I do say so myself." I thanked him, and about 20 other Pokèmon who said the same thing to me and Skyler as they walked out past us to start the evening ceremony. As we got to the last couple Pokèmon who were still standing in the hall, our village elder started to make her move out of the building, walking up to me and towards the door. I put on a smile as I greeted her.

"Good afternoon, Dorris."

She sent a smile my way and leaned on her stick, which served her as a cane. "Oh, hello Andy, Skyler," She replied. Dorris was a smaller than average Dragonite, being only about 3 and a half feet tall because of her old age. She was also a psychic type DS like me, so we had a lot in common.

"How has your day been?" I asked with anything but malicious intent.

"Not to be rude, Andy," She interrupted me, "But I need to go and prepare for the evening ceremony. Sorry I couldn't chat longer." She waked out past me, and out of the door making me feel a little awkward. "Well." Was my only response. "We should go out and find seats around the fire pit, eh Skyler?"

"..."

"Skyler?"

"...Oh, I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Skyler seemed to pop out of a trance or something.

"Uh..." I stuttered, before recollecting my thoughts. "Oh, I said we should go and find seats. You know, before all of the other ones are taken.

"Oh, good idea. Let's go!" She exclaimed, before running out of the door. I suck a hand out to stop her, but by the time my hand was up, she was already out of the door. I sighed and followed her to the big fire pit, oblivious to the fact that this evening ceremony would change my life forever.

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How'd you guy's like it? Leave a review telling me what you think, and I'll make more :3

~LagomorphKing


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guy's :D

Here it is, another chapter of TDS.

I'm really falling behind, I'm sorry. I'll try to post stuff more frequently. I just have school and everything and it's really taking it's toll. But, I guess that it's here now and that's all that matters.

Thanks for sticking to this story :D

And, I would like to thank Antex-The Legendary Zoroark for submitting his OC, "Adrian Schiffer". The character fits perfectly with what I had planned, so it's fantastic. Go and give him some love :D

That is all.

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TDS: Chapter 2

I followed a sprinting Skyler over to where our grand fire pit was. It was nothing really interesting, a big bonfire pit with some stumps around it for the adults and staff to sit on, (children sat on the ground) and a big seat for the village elder and some other important people to sit. (Yes, even though there's barely 40 of us, we do have some important people.)

The stools we arranged in a way around so that everybody had a view as to what was going on at the front. After we had the, "evening ceremony", we would light the fire in the middle to represent safety, warmth and survival and all that jazz. The evening ceremony wasn't all too ceremonial, though, as all we'd do was recount the day's events, potential threats, and things that we needed to go over like shifts or job placements.

Skyler made it there first, not surprising considering the fact that she had ran, and upon seeing her again, I realized that her hand was placed on the stool beside her, marking my seat. I graciously took it from her, thanking her and sitting down just as the ceremony started. I heard Joey's loud booming voice sounding, telling everyone subconsciously that the time for social matters was over.

"Good evening everyone, may I get your attention please? I have some important news regarding shift changes and a new potential threat on the rise."

"Alright, so..." Joey stopped for a second to look back at the piece of birch bark in his hands. "I have the new schedule in my hands for the shifts of the men who are guarding the front gate today. As for the outer entrances, the schedules remain the same. Now, because of the tragic death we have experienced recently, the shifts for the front gate have been..."

I trailed off into my own thoughts as Joey rambled on and on about schedules and things. I went back to that night, less than a week ago, where that very same death plagued my consciousness. I was there...and I could have done something. But I didn't. I was too much of a pussy to stand up against our foe, in my brother-in-arm's time of need.

_-flashback-_

The sound of chirping Pidgey and Pidgeotto, almost never Pidgeot, never failed to capture my attention when I was alone in the woods. The rustling of trees and the sound of rushing water reminded me of home, back in Hoenn. I laid back and folded my arms behind my head and closed my eyes, for once actually getting some peace in my hectic life. That peaceful moment was shattered, though, when I heard someone walk up to me. I didn't move, thinking they'd see me there and try not to disturb me. Of course, though, the person who had waked up to me just had to be that guy. He walked over and kicked me in the side.

"Hey, snotface. Wake up."

"Ugh...Charlie, why?"

Charlie looked confused. "Why? Whaddaya mean, 'why'?"

"Why do you always do this? Annoy me when I'm trying to have some peace? This is the third time this week." I replied, annoyed.

"Well...uh...I dunno. I get lonely. Anyways, this time there's a reson. You, sir," He poked me in the side with his foot, "Are comin' with me to get some health restoring berries. The old lady's sick." He explained, the 'old lady' meaning Dorris, the village elder.

"Why me? Why couldn't you get someone like Alf, who's an adult?"

"Because I trust you, and if you haven't noticed, Alf isn't the sharpest tool in the shed."

"Yeah, I guess so. But, then again, Alf is like that old tool that you always used to use for everything until it got rusty. You're like one of those really cheep ones that you buy at knock off stores that didn't work in the first place."

Charlie laughed and kicked me again. "Jerk. C'mon, let's go." He started to walk away.

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming." I replied, standing up and running after him.

Charlie was a 13 year old Pikachu, who was a water type Delta, meaning he was actually weak to himself. Now, since Skyler and Charlie were both Pikachu's, you would think that they would be able to relate to each other and talk to each other a lot, but that's not quite the case. You see, Skyler, for some reason, hated Charlie with a passion. Even when he died she looked kind of relieved. To this day, I don't really even know why she hated him. All I knew was that she hated him, and Charlie supposedly had a big crush on her. Maybe she just didn't appreciate the constant flirting or attention? Well, whatever the reason was, I had no reason to pass judgement. He seemed like a good kid, although kind of dull and dumb.

"Where are we going?" I finally had the courage to say after we had been walking aimlessly for about 20 minutes.

"Well, uh, I'm pretty sure the berry bushes are over here. I mean, they might be over that way, too..." he replied, pointing a finger in a random direction.

I facepalmed and spoke. "Charlie...the berry bushes grow north of the camp...which direction are we going?" If Charlie was good for anything, it was reading topographical maps and telling directions.

"Hmm...well, judging by the position of the sun and the shading of the trees, the wind velocity, speed and direction of origin of the wind currents...I'd say we are heading in a South-South Easterly direction. Why?"

He figured all of this out just by looking around and feeling the wind. Did I not tell you he was good with directions? Unfortunately, he wasn't smart enough to put that knowledge into real life situations.

I facepalmed again. "And what direction did I just say the berry bushes grew in?"

"North, again, I'm not really getting what you're trying to-" an expression of realization crossed his face. "Oh...we gotta go North. Well, in that case, follow me!" He exclaimed, before licking his finger and putting it in the air. He put a hand to his chin, and, as if he had just remembered the answer to a mid-term test question, his face lit up and he ran off in the direction that was North. "This way!"

I looked to the ground, slumped my shoulders and shook my head before running off after him. I caught up, and we walked to the berry bushes, in the right direction this time. However, if I hadn't have pointed out that we were going the wrong way, he might be still alive. But more on that later.

As we approached the berry bushes, it was starting to get dark outside.

"We need to hurry, it's starting to get dark." I said aloud to Charlie, who had already started working at the berries. "Already ahead of you, my friend."

I rolled my eyes and started myself. About five minutes into it, I started to feel a chill. Now, this was weird, one reason being that I was a fire type and I didn't get chills often, and there was a suspicious eerie feeling in the air. I started to feel a bit uneasy, and started to sweat a little, despite being also terribly cold. Something wasn't right.

"Charlie, we have to get out of here. It doesn't feel right. I-" I didn't get to finish my sentence, though, when we heard a loud hissing behind us. We both froze - we both knew it was a Seviper's call. And it was extremely close. I started to turn around slowly, Charlie mimicking my movements. Our guesses were correct, when we turned to face a peculiar looking snake of prey.

This Seviper was pretty interesting looking - it was purple with pure black markings for a change, green fangs and bright golden pupils with emerald colored scleras. In the dim light I could make out small details, like it's crimson tail and the tear marks just under his eyes. They weren't actual tears, more like tattoo's. It looked more menacing than other Seviper, like it had been through hell, had a metaphorical arm wrestle with the Devil, and won. Like it had been through war and been in many battles. It looked like it knew when and how to snap a body in half if need be.

We opened our mouths to scream, but he stopped us before we could.

"No, don't yell. I'll kill you both if you move a muscle. Now...you." he moved his tail to my neck. "You, I can tell you're special. You're just like me, brother! We are both in the clan of the forgotten, mistreated and lonely Pokèmon. We, together are Delta species! I can tell by your purple flame, boy! Now...what's your other ability?" He hissed.

"...Psychic, sir. Now, if we could just be on our-"

"Silence! That's all the information I need!" He yelled, cutting me off. He laughed before continuing. "We are very much alike, brother! I, myself, am a dark type. Now, your friend here, he's not a Delta species. Don't you just hate people who aren't? They make fun of us, tease us and exile us! We must fight back, as Delta Species, as an army! We must retaliate against the normal Pokèmon! What do you say?" He hissed again, staring straight into my eyes after he was done pointing to Charlie with his tail.

"Yea, sure, whatever you say dude. But Charlie's not a-"

"Again, that is all the information I need! Now, let's fight this foul creature together! End his miserable life all together!" He screamed, holding his tail against Charlie's throat. I was paralyzed with fear, not able to respond. Unfortunately, he took that as a silent agreement.

"Good. Now, I would just normally kill you, normal Pokèmon. But, I'm feeling generous for once. Come on, fight me! We'll see who's the best species, once and for all!" He yelled, flying towards Charlie. I could tell Charlie was paralyzed with fear, as well, as he wasn't moving as the Seviper flew at him with his tail. I could see him trembling, sweating and gasping in horror. I tried to move to protect him, but I was also frozen in fear. I felt relief wash over me, though, when he dodged to the right of the incoming attack, just barely missing. With God-like speed, the Seviper re-appeared in front of Charlie, stabbing him in the throat before he had a chance to do anything.

"NOOOOOO!" I screamed, finally being able to move and put out emotion. Tears spewed down my face, and I collapsed to my knees as I watched Charlie flail around in the air on the end of the Seviper's tail, eyes agape and his mouth opening and closing to try and get a breath. I watched in horror as blood oozed from his neck, forming a puddle on the forest floor.

I flung myself at him in a rage induced stupor, scratching Seviper and lighting him on fire with a flamethrower in a single second. Purple flames engulfed the snake, and I watched him dance around or a couple of seconds before it went out. I then used Psychic, and flung him against a tree. It was super effective, him being a dark type and all, and you could tell it hurt a lot. I ran over to Charlie, who was still alive, and choking on his own blood.

"Charlie, stay with me man! Don't die!" I yelled, falling to my knees and kneeling beside him. He looked at me, eyes agape and filled with terror. I started to cry a lot, mumbling and yelling incoherent things that I can't remember in my trauma-adrenaline induced stupor. I watched as he slowly started to go limp, me still screaming, louder now that I realized he was dying. He finally went limp, and I placed my head on his chest, crying and yelling. After I calmed down a tad, but not enough to stop crying, I heard something slither up behind me. All of my sadness turned into rage. I turned to face him, my eyes now completely purple and the fire on my tail growing to an extreme amount.

"...You...KILLED him...You KILLED HIM!" I screamed, firing out psychic power in all directions. He kept dodging them with his extreme speed, as getting hit with one of those would surely have killed him. I finally focused on him himself, pulling it all together and raising him into the air.

"You will die!" I screamed, using all of my power to crush him in my metaphoric grasp. I was confused, however, when nothing happened, and even more so when the psychic energy around him turned black and completely cancelled my psychic out. He smirked and fell to the ground.

"Your psychic moves can barely effect me. Last time, you just caught me off guard. I could kill you right now, but I don't kill my own kind. But, remember this name, as you will see me again. And next time, I won't be alone. My name is, ...

Adrian Schiffer."

He slithered away into the woods, out of my feild of veiw. After that, I ran Charlie's body back to the rest of the clan, hoping that they could save him, but the effort was futile. I told them everything that happened a few hours after they had buried him, especially the name, Adrian Schiffer. I still cried when I retold the story, though, and for the most part, they believed me. Personally, I believe that it was because of the extreme trauma I had been putting out as an emotion. They could tell I was too hysteric, and that I couldn't have actually killed him. Still, I feel responsible for his death for not doing anything until he was stabbed, and I cry every time it's mentioned. I was doing that now, just coming out of my trance.

Skyler had her arm around me, holding me close and rubbing my back as she listened to the elder speak about something. I was too far lost in thought to care about what was being said. Everyone could see I was crying, but I made no sounds and wasn't disturbing anything, so they didn't kick me out yet. Skyler went up and whispered in my ear, "would you like me to take you back to your hut?"

All I did was nod my head slowly.

"Alright. Let's go." She said as she hoisted me up and walked away from the evening ceremony. As soon as we got to my tent, she asked me one more question.

"Would you like some company? I'll stay if you want and comfort you. I mean, if you want to be alone, by all means, -"

"No...I'd like that." I said, managing a weak smile and walking in. I held the small piece of cloth covering my doorway open to act as a sort of door. I let her in first, closing the flap as I followed her inside.

I laid down on the bed of grass, curling up into a fetal position in the semi-dark room. "Awe, you poor thing..." was what I heard from Skyler before she laid down beside me, also in front of me. She started to stroke my head awkwardly, in an effort to comfort me, and it worked. I closed my eyes and started to fall asleep, only to open them after about a minute of peaceful stroking.

I moved closer to Skyler, putting my arms out and wrapping my arms around her. Now, this would've been awkward, but we actually hugged a lot, and hugging each other on the ground wasn't any more awkward. She put her arms around me, rubbing my back while I stroked her head. We both eventually started to fall asleep, but I wanted to do something before we did, but it was also kind of risky. I pushed my head over a bit, and gave Skyler a small peck on her red cheek. Her eyes widened, and she looked at me with a blush and a questionable expression. I shrank under her gaze, and explained myself to her.

"I just wanted to thank you. You know...for everything. That was the only way I could do it and get my point across about it as intensely as I wanted to. I hope you understand."

She then did something I would have never expected in a million years.

She leaned closer to me as I did to her naught but a couple of moments ago, and kissed me.

Right on the lips.

I was shocked at first. I didn't really think I liked Skyler this way...and I didn't think she liked me that way either. Or maybe I did? Maybe she did? Maybe it was just a heat if the moment thing? Whatever it was, I melted into it after a couple of seconds, closing my eyes and letting her explore the taste of my mouth with hers. It was only a small kiss, just lips and nothing really special, but it still felt good and passionate. After about 20 seconds of this, we pulled apart and she looked into my eyes, her eyes being a little watery and dreamy. She put her head into my chest, snuggled up closer to me, and said,

"Goodnight, Andy."

"...Uhm...goodnight, Skyler..." I replied, uncertain about how to respond. What I did know, though, was that I was happy. I was happy and felt like I was on a cloud. I fell asleep, with a big goofy smile on my face.

* * *

I woke up the next day, still as happy and filled with glee as when I fell asleep. It was the middle of the day, I could tell by the heat of the sun, and the fact that I felt absolutely no fatigue at all, meaning I had slept for some time.

That also means I didn't help cook breakfast.

I sat up, and was kinda sad to see Skyler still not in the hut with me. I guess it made sense, she and I were cooks. If one of us didn't do it, the other did. Otherwise, we'd do it together. I didn't know what this strange feeling was that was coming over me, whenever I thought about Skyler. As soon as her image popped into my head, I felt my face burn. This continued as I stood and walked out of the hut, my red skin hiding the immense blush I had. I kept just picturing her in my mind, her image flashing over and over again in my thoughts without rest. She was conducting my train of thought, and driving it right down a pit in which I could only assume was a crush.

It felt weird, having a crush on my best friend. Like, I had known her forever. What if we had gotten together, but broke up? The friendship I had worked so hard to achieve with her would be shattered in the amount of a couple exchanged words. I came to a conclusion that nobody will know of this. Nobody will know of my seemingly overnight crush. After all, it would probably go away in a week. She was a good kisser though...and I wanted more.

But, something I had decided to do, was ask her why she had did what she did last night? Why'd she have to do it that exact night? And why now do I develop a crush? Agh, God just loves to mess with me.

I walked through the middle of the town, through the fireplace area, and over to the fields just outside the village. I walked past the trees, the leaves starting to turn a brazen orange and fall off. At the end of the small forest, I made my way to the pond where some hills and clearings were.

Upon a rock, by the tiny body of water sat Skyler and two of her other friends,And they all turned to look at me when the branches and leaves started to rustle. As soon as I popped out, I saw their heads turn and their eyes stare at me with incredulous looks.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting something...?" I asked shyly and quietly, as I am quite nervous around people I don't know too well. These friends of Skyler's lived outside of the village in the wild, and so I didn't know them at all.

"Oh my God, he's so cute!" I heard one of them say. "He's so shy, it's adorable!"

"Yea, just like you told us, Sky!"

I looked from her friends to Skyler with a confused look on my face. I then held my hands behind my back and hung my head down, now feeling more embarrassed then ever.

"Well, if you guy's were in the middle of something, I'll just go over there...and not bother anyone..." the last part of my sentence whispered.

"Oh, come on, buddy, we don't bite!" I heard one say.

"Yea, c'mon cutie-patootie! Waddle that shy bum over here and talk to us! C'mooonnn, we just want to talk!" The other said awkwardly.

"...guy's..." I heard Skyler mumble.

By now, my face was actually darker than usuall due to my blush. If it shows through red skin, that's bad.

"Uhm..-I-I just...just w-w-want to-" I didn't get to finish my sentence, though, when the two females started advancing towards me, one being a Butterfree and another being a Poliwhirl. I started to back away from them, and they started moving towards me faster. They were about to touch me, saying things like, "look how cute he is!" And, "I just want to gobble him right up!" And I started going to the floor in a ball, saying things like, "No...stop...I don't want to...", but they wouldn't listen.

Eventually, Skyler came to m rescue and jumped in between the advancing females and I, throwing out her arms to either side.

"Guys, can't you tell he's scared? Look at him, you've turned him into an emotional mess!" She exclaimed, pointing to me on the ground and sounding angry.

"Well, sorry Sky, we just wanted to-"

"Well sorry nothing! This is my best friend, and I don't think he appreciates you guys doing this at all! So, if you would kindly leave, I'm going to talk to my best friend and get him to calm down, no thanks to you two. I'll talk to you later sometime, just not now." She exclaimed once more, making erratic hand gestures and pointing to the exit of the clearing.

As they waddled off, I heard one of them mumble something along the lines of, "over protective much."

I sat there, watching Sky watch her two friends leave. She turned around after they were out of sight, crouched down to me to the best of her ability with her crippled leg, and started stroking my head soothingly.

"It's all right, Andy. Everything's okay."

I sighed. "Skyler..w-w-we nee-eed to talk about something...after I c-c-calm d-down..." I replied with shaky breaths.

"Alright, I'll be right here the entire time, right until you've calmed down..."

I sighed again, but was not, in any way, prepared for what she said next. She laid down beside me, pulled me into an embrace and said...

"...I love you...Andy..."

* * *

BOOM, CLIFFHANGER MOTHERFUCKERS

Once again, I would like to thank Antex-The Legendary Zoroark for his OC.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

-LagomorphKing


	3. Chapter 3

Here's the new chapter, guys. I hope you all enjoy, and I commend you guys for waiting so long. Sorry about the delays, but I will get back on track.

Random reader: Yea, dude, that's what you said three chapters ago.

*Throws a plant at him"

Random reader: NOOOOOO! NOT PLANTS! MY ONLY WEAKNESS! AAGGHHGHGHHHAHGHHHHH! *Melts*

Well, with that out of the way, I guess the only thing left to do is to thank Lectro Underground and PokeMaster64 for their OC's. I'll be accepting OC's for only one more chapter, so if you want to submit one, the chance to do so will be over by the time the next chapter is posted. After that, no more OC's for this story. Sorry, but it's gonna be kinda hard to make everyone a main character, like I explained to you guys a couple weeks ago.

So, I guess now it's time to read. Enjoy :D

* * *

TDS: Chapter 3

My eyes widened in shock and horror, my face went numb and my heart threatened to stop in it's tracks. What did she just say?...she...she...loves me...? As if I didn't already have enough on my mind with the death of Charlie, and my recent encounter with Skyler's, "friends". She just had to say this to me now...now of all times. She could've waited for a better time, and instead she chose this one. And...and...what happens if I don't..."love" her back...? Does that ruin our friendship? Is this the moment in my life where I might lose the only person I have left? I might just crack if that ever happens.

But, here was my main delema: I didn't know what to think of her. I mean, she was the best friend I had ever had, and she had always been there for me...

And yet, I didn't know if I could return those feelings.

Both Skyler and I felt my body start to cease it's intrepid shaking, instead dying down to small trembles. My heart rate started to slow, and my muscles started relaxing.

"That's it...just breath. You're fine, darling..." Skyler said in a calming voice, which seemed to have a certain softness that made you just want to fall asleep. I reached my arms out from their former positions and hugged Skyler back. After a couple moments of this, we separated, and sat up facing each other. The phrase she had whispered to me not moments ago was forever burned into my mind. I couldn't hold the question back, even if I tried.

"Skyler, what was that earlier?"

Skyler looked puzzled. "What was what earlier?" She inquired, head tilting to the side in confusion.

I sighed. "Well, when you initially hugged me, you said...uhm...well, you said that you, uhm...loved...me?" I finally asked, but not at all getting the reaction I was expecting. I expected her face to contort in shock and her mouth start spewing excuses as to why she said what she said. Instead, she had a sort of "Oh, that's what you're talking about" expression.

"Oh, that? Well...I love you, Andy. You're like a brother to me. I love you like you were my own familly." She said with a smile. "You know, unconditional family type love. Wait...you didn't think..."

My face flushed, and I hung my head down and nodded. Skyler burt out laughing. "Wow...really? You thought I had a crush on you? On YOU? Bahaha!" Skyler screamed.

I looked down and fiddled with my fingers. "That last comment was unecessarily harsh, Sky..."

"Hahaha..I know...ha...I'm sorry..." she said in between giggles. "I just...I...don't think you're my type, is all. Nothing against you, you're a great guy. Any female would be lucky to have you. It's just...I'm waiting for my, "knight in shining armor", so to speak," She said, justifying her reasoning with a smile. "I'm waiting for my perfect guy."

I smiled. "Alright then. Shall we walk back?" I stood up and held out my hand.

"Sure. Wanna go to the pond after we're done cooking Lunch?"

"I guess. I mean, I'm not going swimming, but I'll come." This earned a light chuckle from Skyler. She took my hand and I helped her up. After that, she walked behind me, me being oblivious to what Skyler was doing behind my back.

* * *

(Skyler's POV)

"Skyler, what was that earlier?"

I froze. I knew what he was talking about. It slipped out...although I tried to conceal it...I admitted my love for Andy. And the worst thing was, it was through involuntary means.

_"Alright, just stay calm...act like nothing happened. Act like you have no idea what he's talking about...yea. Yea, that's good. Do that."_ I told myself. I tilted my head to the side in forced, fake confusion.

"What was what earlier?"

_"Nice. Good performance. Keep it up."_ I told myself again.

"Well, when you initially hugged me, you said...uhm...well, you said that you, uhm...loved...me?"

_"Think of something...fast...you don't have much timeeee...Oh, that's it!"_ I thought to myself once more.

"Oh, that? Well...I love you, Andy. You're like a brother to me. I love you like you were my own family." I said with a smile. "You know, unconditional family type love. Wait...you didn't think..."

I watched him hang his head down in shame. He nodded, and I continued with the act.

"Wow...really? You thought I had a crush on you? On YOU? Bahaha!" I yelled, fake laughing. It was fortunate that he didn't catch onto my fake laugh. I then saw something that destroyed me on the inside. He looked legitimately saddened by what I had just said...like he was hurt far beyond what I had intended. "Not that I meant to hurt him or anything, but...maybe I went a little overboard."...

Seeing Andy like this stabbed at my core, right to the bottom of my heart. I felt like such a bitch...and to my best friend, I had caused this emotional pain. I wanted to stop the act and just apologize, hug him and tell him I loved him, for real...but I had to keep up my act. There was no way that Andy could ever figure out that I liked him. And so, I went to continue. But Andy got something out before I could speak.

"That last comment was unnecessarily harsh, Sky..."

I literally cringed in sadness, right there. Oh Arceus, how I wanted to go and comfort him...but this act could. Not. Slip. I couldn't and would't let him know...at least not for now.

I kept the act up, even though I was tearing myself apart emotionally. "Hahaha..I know...ha...I'm sorry..." I said in between mock giggles. "I just...I...don't think you're my type, is all. Nothing against you, you're a great guy. Any female would be lucky to have you." I took a breath, hating myself for saying everything I had said in our conversation. "It's just...I'm waiting for my, "knight in shining armour", so to speak," I smiled. "I'm waiting for my perfect guy." Oh, Arceus, what have I done?

I saw him smile, and instantly felt better. "Alrighty then. Shall we walk back?" He gestured his hand to me.

"Sure. Wanna go to the pond after we're done cooking Lunch?" I replied.

"I guess. I mean, I'm not going swimming, but I'll come." I chuckled a little. I finally took his hand up on it's offer, letting him lift me up. Sometimes, this stupid leg pissed me off. He started walking in front of me, and while his back was turned, I started fist pumping in celebration. Nice work, myself.

* * *

(Andy's POV)

We arrived back in Delta Village, and Lunch went off without a hitch. Joey thanked us for our services again, and later, we both departed to the pond for some well-deserved peace and quiet.

"Doesn't it bother you that you're not able to swim? Like, aren't you the least bit jealous of those who can?" Skyler asked of me as we neared the pond.

"Who, me? Nah, I hate water. If anything, I feel more afraid of it." I said, answering the question honestly. Skyler nodded, and we continued walking in a comfortable silence down the path to the pond. I enjoyed the quiet that ensued in the forest, the calls of small Pokèmon filling the air, and the effect of beautiful fear the forest had on you.

I tried to break the silence with the question I had trying to ask all day. "Uhm...Skyler, can I ask why yo-"

"Geronimo!" A booming voice shouted, cutting me off sharply and breaking the peaceful silence of the forest. Skyler and I looked for the source of the noise, before watching Rick burst out of the top of a tree, desperately flailing and falling. He landed on the ground with a sick thud, right on his head.

Rick is one of the Pokèmon who lives in Delta Village. He's a Meowth flying type Delta, which is pretty cool. But, the bad thing is, even though he is a flying type, he can't exactly fly. He's an excellent glider, don't get me wrong, he just can't..."fly". This was most likely the reason for his "smashing" entrance earlier, as lately he's been trying to teach himself how to fly.

And failing miserably.

But Rick's a really great guy, he's got a heart of gold and a great personality, although he can be kind of sarcastic at times. He's real protective of his friends and 'tribe', but is kind of off-put when it comes to fighting, as he hates conflict. I think he also learned self defense once in case he was attacked, but since he was higher up on the food chain by being a cat, Pokèmon, for the most part, left him alone. Instead of the gold charm on the forehead where it's supposed to sit, Rick's was sky blue, as well as his eyes. Nobody has really gotten close enough to Rick as friends to know his back story, so even I have no idea where he came from.

"Ow...owowowow..." Rick groaned as he started to pull himself up off of the ground. I helped him, using psychic, and pulled the rest of him up and set him down in front of us.

"Thanks...ow, that hurt..." he groaned in pain.

"Were you trying to teach yourself to fly again?" I inquired. "Maybe that's not such a good idea right now, hmmm?"

"Oh, no, I wasn't trying to teach myself to fly. I was just practicing my broken ballerina skills. See?" He then proceeded to do some ballet poses, with a little strange twist of his body here and there, resembling something of a crippled pile of goo trying to pose. Skyler laughed, and I face palmed. There's the sarcasm I was talking about. Rick chuckled in unison with Skyler, and I joined in after a little bit. After this, we exchanged pleasantries, and went our separate directions, Skyler and I to the pond, and Rick off to do his own thing. I really admired Rick, he was calm and level headed, but could also be that fun, lovely, energetic guy that can keep a party interesting. A little fun fact, I was born only 4 hours before Rick was, so we were pretty much the exact same age. Whenever we'd do birthday stuff, Rick and I usually just did it together, even though technically he was born on January 6th as opposed to the 5th.

Skyler's eyes widened and her face curved into a smile. "There's the pond! Come on, Andy!" She yelled in excitement as she ran ahead of me. I sighed and continued at my regular pace, not all too exited to be going near the one thing that could kill me in an instant. When I finally caught up and surveyed the small pool of water, I smilled. At least the scenery was pretty.

Skyler was swimming laps around the pond, using backstrokes and having the biggest grin of the century plastered on her face. I smiled again and sat on a rock, watching her have the time of her life. At least she was happy. That's all that matters, right?

Just then, as I was lost in thought, Skyler splashed up in front of me. She put her arms on the sand bank and smiled at me.

"I really wish you could join me in here, Andy. It's so exhilarating..." She said. "Hey...is everything all right?"

When I gave no response, she took her arms out of the pool and waved them, side to side over her head. "Yoooohoo, Andy! Earth to Anddyyy!"

I jumped out of my trance. "Oh...Uh, what's up?" I replied stupidly. She sighed and put her arms back into the water. "Ah...never mind." She said. I was about to question her, but she sank down into the water, continuing to swim around. I shrugged it off, and although it bothered me quite a bit, I let her swim around for the time we remained there without pressing her about it. She got out, dried off, and we headed back to the village together.

Skyler broke the sort of awkward, sort of uncomfortable silence after a while.

"Andy...I'm really tired...can you carry me back to the village? Like...I dunno, a piggy back ride?"

I thought of it for a moment, With a confused look on my face. "Uhm...sure, I don't see why not." Skyler squealed, and hopped onto my back. I laughed. "What was that?"

"What was what?" she asked, and I could tell she was embarrassed and knew what I was talking about. I laughed again. "That squeal. What was that?"

"Oh, hush. I was just excited. Now, onward, my brave and gentil steed!" She chanted. I smiled, and started running. Well, running as fast as I could with Sky on my back. She started laughing, and so I sped up. I started weaving in, around and about the trees outlining the area. Skyler decided she had a change in imagination, so she spoke again, this time setting the scenario for a different approach at the current situation.

"Flight 2109, boarding now for Awesome Town. I repeat, Flight 2109 boarding from Lame Place to Freaking Awesome town." I laughed, and replied, "Hold onto me, tight." I stuck out my arms, not holding onto her thighs anymore, and started making plane noises, not even trying to follow the trail back to the village. I zoomed around, Skyler on my back, laughing and not having a care in the world. This went on for a while, me turning into various different things, while Skyler rode on my back. I became things such as Tauros, a Rapidash, and a Ryhorn, while Skyler rode on me, pretending to be my master. She eventually found a long piece of grass and pretended to use it as a whip, smacking my behind when I "refused" to move. Eventually, I got tired and Skyler got cold, so we decided to head back to the village, after having oodles of fun.

"What do you want to cook for today's dinner?" I asked Skyler after a comfortable silence had ensued, with me waking while Sky was on my back.

"..." Was her response.

"Sky?" I turned my head around and looked at Sky, who was fast asleep on my shoulder. I nuzzled her with my head, and pressed on, into the back entrance of the village. Once we got inside, a couple people tried to talk to me, but I waved them off and headed to Sky's tent to lay her down to sleep. Once inside, as gently as I could, I took her off of my back and laid her down. I smiled at her sleeping form, and kissed her on the forehead before heading outside to start making supper.

* * *

After supper, and the evening ceremony, I was told I had to work a shift tonight guarding the front gate. Shifts weren't all that bad, because once you've worked your fair share of 12 hours, you get the next day completely free of all duties. That meant sweet relief for some people, but I was a cook, so It didn't really benefit me much. I took my position above the gate on a ledge, watching out over the forest for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Yes, it gets kinda boring, scanning the forest over and over again for twelve whole hours, but it's my duty, so I gladly accepted it and did my job. I was about four hours in, when I felt like I wasn't alone...I felt a chill run up my spine, and I felt the presence of somebody behind me, and I froze. I stared out into the forest, as tense as stone, and wondered if it was worth turning around to look at whatever stood behind me. I decided that I would, out of curiosity, when I felt light breathing down my back. I at least wanted to see my attacker before I had been attacked, and so, I turned around slowly.

When I spun around, there was nothing there. I didn't feel the chills, I felt like I was alone again, but the weird feeling of steady breathing on my neck was still there. I regarded it as nothing, and turned back around.

When I faced in front of me, I yelled in terror, almost falling off of the small ledge I stood on. There, in front of me sat Ethan, who scared the living daylights out of me. Ethan was now laughing at my terror, him being the one who had pranked me.

See, Ethan was a ghost type Diglett, who roamed the Village at night, protecting us and keeping guard while we slept. He had been raised in Lavender Town's famous Pokemon Tower by some ghost types, protecting his little brother, Josh. Their mother was killed by humans, and by that moment, Ethan became mostly stoic, just trying to survive and protect his brother. This is the point when we found him and Josh and took them in, and now they both lived in one hut together, even though Ethan's a Ghost type as well as Ground, and Josh was just a regular Diglett. Ethan had a slight transparent purple hue to him, making him appear to be just a hologram. Sometimes he flew around, sometimes he was underground, but he was always protecting the village. He didn't like to be around in the day, so he mostly just sat in the shadows, keeping watch over us. Josh didn't get to see him much, but when he did, he always made sure to stick close to him.

"Oh my Arceus, Ethan, you just about gave me a heart attack!" Of course, he was still laughing at my misfortune. "Ethan!"

"Yea...Hahahah...kekek...Oh man, that was too funny...hahah..."

I sent a glare his way, and assumed my position back up where I was before. "You could've let somebody in while I was distracted, you know." I said, matter-of-factly.

"Yea, but I just love doing that to people!" He exclaimed. "I'm gonna leave you to your buisness now. But, I'll always be watching...in the shadows...in your hut, watching you sleep...I'm nowhere and everywhere at once..." He said, just before disappearing into the mist of the warm, foggy night. I sighed, and continued to keep watch. Sometimes, I just wanted to be alone, and right now was the only time I could be alone without worry, and Ethan just had to come along and ruin it. I sighed. Me and my stupid ambition to be lonely. It wasn't Ethan's fault, and I knew it. I disregarded the thought, as it was bugging me a lot, something I didn't really need right now. Just as I was returning my attention to the forest, a loud, ear-peircing scream rung out in the dead of night. I immediately jumped off of my guard position, chasing the sound, with only one thought on my mind:

"_Skyler_."

* * *

Whew, that was fun c: Hope you guys enjoyed reading! I want to again thank Lectro Underground and PokeMaster64 for their characters Ethan and Rick.

Join me for the next installment of The Delta Species! :D


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